The Little Mermaid
by meowmeow814
Summary: Once upon a time, there lived six beautiful mermaid princesses. The youngest was the most beautiful of them all, and they all lived happily together. But one stormy night... Mix between the Little Mermaid movie version and the story version. With the help of a certain sea witch, presenting OkiKagu because I ship it to shreds.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello! This is my first time making something of this rating and it's prone to change, but I'll try to write what I can for it. I was originally going to add this to Gintama Folklores but I think it should be its own special thing due to the higher rating. Anyway, thank you for reading! This will be a short multi-chapter story.

(I do not own Gintama or the original film or story; all rights go to rightful owners)

~meowmeow814

* * *

Once upon a time, there lived six beautiful mermaid princesses. Under the sea, they raced above glittering coral, looped through slick kelp, and rolled and giggled on the gentle seagrass. The sun, so far away, was just their watery spotlight. The girls swam and sang, sweeter than any nightingale of land, swifter than any swallow of air.

And yet, despite the beauty around them, they longed to see land. While the chubby yellow flounder-not-flounder and the crabby crab were nice/ grouchy and all, the world above held so much more.

"Aaah, how I wish I could eat something other than Drippin' Drops…" complained one, flicking her violet tail one day as the sisters were resting.

"Ugh Otae, why do you always talk about your boring Drippin' Drops? If _I_ went on land, the first thing I would do is go to a bar and then do this and that and that and-"

Another snorted at the daydreaming pink mermaid. "And that's what _you_ always talk about."

The pink mermaid snapped back irritatedly. "Well you, you always act like you're so much better! Succumb to darkness!" she shrieked and bowled over the cynical orange mermaid. The two tumbled through the water in a mess of bubbles and hair. A true catfish fight.

The fourth sighed. She absentmindedly fiddled with her sweeping black hair, ruddy tail twitching. "Why are we always like this…"

"Oi, the biggest problem here is your eyepatch! How the hell does something like that work underwater, oiii?!"

"Don't you dare lay a hand on Kyuu-chan!"

Otae promptly joined the fight, and an underwater sandstorm started. Kyuubei awkwardly sat where she was and turned to the sister next to her. "Oh they're so immature… right?"

"Ahnm, I dun mind as long as ma cat ears dun get hurt."

Catherine nodded expertly, eyebrows bobbing equally expertly. A green tail switched back and forth.

"..."

"..."

"... wait, wait, _wait just a second_. Isn't, isn't there something wrong with this scene right here. Nin-nin."

"I suddenly feel my character appeal being lost with this cat-eared mermaid. Ice-ice."

"...uh, no. Yoshiwara doesn't have catchphrases, sorry if you were expecting something."

"Well anyway, let's just ignore this… this, uhm, yes, for now. So then, whatever were we talking about?"

The orange, violet, and pink mermaids settled back down. The violet mermaid brightened up and turned towards their last, youngest sister. "Ah yes, Kagura-chan! We haven't heard from you yet. What would you want if you could go up to the surface? Food? Fun? Perhaps even…" She grinned mischievously and poked the turquoise tail. "Perhaps even romance?"

"Hmm, me? Why would I want to go to the surface-aru? I've got all I need right here," she replied, chewing a long strand of seaweed.

"...Um, Kagura-chan? That's, well, that's not sukonbu that's just raw seaweed."

"Anego, I am not one who discriminates. _All_ kelp must be treated equally-aru…" Her sentence trailed off as she looked off into the distance dramatically. She casually tore off another kelp from the root while she was at it.

"Riiight… Ah, so, anyway, I figured maybe we could try to sneak our way up to the surface. Y'know, just to see what it's like. It sounds so wonderful and nice, it couldn't hurt to just look, right?" The violet mermaid said, turning to look at each sister with excitement gleaming in her eyes.

The pink mermaid nodded slowly in agreement. "Yes, it does sound quite interesting. But when and how…"

"Well, we could go tonight. Tonight's a full moon so even if we left at midnight, we could still see land quite clearly," the orange mermaid suggested helpfully.

"Wow, I never thought that Tsuki could make such a reasonable sugges-"

" Well tonight it is then," cutted the violet mermaid, pointedly glaring at the pink mermaid, who shrugged innocently. "Is there anyone who wouldn't like to go? Kyuu-chan?"

"You know I'd go anywhere you go, Tae-chan."

"Great! And, uh, er, Ca...Ca…"

"Ahm, I'm fine, gotta tend to mai romanses back 'ere," she said, trying to wink roguishly but failing too miserably for it to be joked about.

"W-well, that's fine. Kagura-chan?"

"Anego, I don't need that world. Everything I love is in the ocean. My seaweed is in the ocean. My sisters are in the ocean. Why must I go to the surface-aru?" Kagura contentedly chewed her kelp, so happily that not even Otae could cause her to budge. She sighed.

"Haaa, is that so. Well then, we'll be going on without you Kagura-chan." With one final glance back, the violet mermaid sped away with the other three.

Night approached and all kinds of slithering, glistening creepers began to crawl out. The four sisters discretely swam up to the surface, the moonlight gilding them silver. Kagura watched them go from the castle. She shoved away the pangs of longing.

"I don't need it, land or anything. Let them leave me for the stupid land, baaakaaa," she muttered childishly, swishing her tail on the polished marble. "Well that's just fine, I'll go on my own adventure, just you wait, I'll have a better time than anything from land. I'm sick of hearing this obsession!"

With a rebellious cry, she slid out the window. She swam and swam, past the floral gardens of coral, past the myriad school of fleeting fish, past the floating clouds of jellyfish, until there came to be nothing but sand and gravel. And one, dark, cave.

The underwater grotto was gloomy, shadows spilling out from fluorescent rocks glowing a sickly green. Kagura entered, boldly at first and then cautiously, as the light became more and more distorted. Finally, at the very end sat the sea witch, black flowing hair cascading to the unfriendly rocks. She turned around at Kagura's entrance.

She grinned, rather warmly. "Why hello, do you need something?"

Kagura blinked at the bright demeanor. "Wait, aren't you… I dunno, supposed to be more, intimidating? Er, cold and regal and evil? Ursula-style?"

"Oh I don't know, Disney gives me a bad rap, I'm actually pretty cool. But say, why are you here?" She peered at Kagura curiously.

"Well, uhm, I was, bored? I guess?" she replied lamely.

"Hmm, hmm, 'that so…" The sea-witch thoughtfully looked at her shelves of potions for a bit before suddenly asking, "Hey, do you like role-playing?"

"Wha-what? ...er, not in particular, no-"

"Hmm, hmm, I see, I like role-play too in fact. Well, in any case, I have just the potion for you." She snapped her fingers and a eel came forward with a glass flask. Inside was a crystal clear liquid, so clear the reflected darkness inside made it shine like obsidian.

Kagura stared at the bottle. "What is this?"

"It's something fun. I'm sure you'll like it. And it keeps me from being bored too. We'll have a grand time now, here, just drink it. But if you don't say your feelings, you just might not be able to return to being a mermaid in three days. But that's that~"

With a surprisingly strong grip, the eel forced it down her throat by pinching Kagura's nose.

"Agf, eww, what was tha-"

With a _bwumf_ and with more than enough cliche sparkles, the turquoise tail faded away into a pair of pale legs. Kagura only had a fleeting second to look shocked before flailing for air, the water strangely feeling insubstantial to her.

Soyo waved at the eel and it dragged the mermaid out of the cavern, guiding her to the surface. Soyo grinned evilly, although maybe it's given since she was the original OkiKagu shipper. But that's for later…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello! This chapter's a bit more angsty, especially near the end, but I'll try to make the other chapters more comedy-based. Thank you for reading!

~meowmeow814

* * *

Above the idyllic ocean was a raging storm. Blue-white jagged scars slashed through the night but let's take it back to an hour ago and start from there…

 _An hour ago_

"Ahaha, Sougo, congratulations on your coronation as king! I knew you had it in you," Kondo heartily laughed, slapping him on the back. "Maybe it's not of Sadists but it's good nonetheless. Oi, you say something too Toshi!"

"You weren't this happy when I was coronated in my country…I was sadder when I didn't become the king of mayonnaise that I always wanted to be..." was all he muttered and Okita flashed him a sadistic smile.

The sea was fine, the sky was fine, and everything was fine. Onboard the ship, laughter and revelry rang as nobles waltzed to the fiddle and flutes. As Kondo and Hijikata drifted towards the food, Okita sighed and leaned out alone. A brisk breeze of brine met him and he blinked, rubbing his eyes. He sighed again.

 _...Aneue, I'm finally a king but what do I do now? I can't see the happiness that you said would be with people who are secure. I can't see anything but… emptiness. As I thought, the days with you were happier..._

He shook his head, clearing away his thoughts. A bitter smile traced his expression, one of the few expressions that could cross Okita Sougo's face. The hand on the wooden rail gripped a little too hard, and a splinter pricked his palm.

Bored, he began to pick it when a sudden gust of wind slammed into him. He stumbled backward before regaining his balance and then the storm was right upon them, in all of its destructive glory and unexpectedness of nature.

Lightning crashed down. Barrels flew. Screams. Creaks. Groans. Higher and higher, towering waves so high he couldn't see the top. A horrid grind as the ship tore apart, one half victim to the maw of the angry sea, the other spinning away.

Okita gritted his teeth as the world spun around and around, only the deafeningly loud cacophony staying constant. And then it was sinking, each wave a jolting drop as the sea crunched down and water flooded. At some point, his hand tore apart from the rail and he slammed into the water, but he managed to snag a piece of driftwood. He coughed as seawater quickly ran up his nose and into his head.

Something nudged him. Numbly, he turned towards it. It was another body but… Okita blinked into awareness. The woman was completely naked. His face blushed an obvious scarlet and he almost swam away before he caught himself. Okita placed a dripping finger on her neck and sure enough, there was the faintest pulse. He awkwardly pulled the limp body onto the wood and shrugged off his jacket, carefully placing it on her.

He wasn't a bastard enough to leave some person who was alive out to die at sea.

But he certainly couldn't swim all the way to shore, and his legs were already becoming leaden and numb. His eyes dully fluttered shut as he clutched the board…

Okita's eyes blearily opened. Sunlight shot into his eyes. He groaned and was about to turn over when he felt something on his arms. He was awake at once.

The girl whom he had rescued was lying very, very, still in his arms. Her body was facing him and her pale, china-doll-like complexion was all too close to him for his comfort. Okita took her pulse again. It feebly replied to his touch. She murmured gibberish and her forehead was unnaturally warm.

His S radar warned that his nice-guy HP points were going down to less than 5%, but he managed to sit up and drag her further up the shore. Thankfully, they had washed up near the castle. But they were also bruised and cut up, enough so to look like they had taken a vacation in a shredder. And of course, one of them was naked and now feverish.

Okita absentmindedly began pulling a strand of the ginger hair before he realized what he was doing. "Get yourself together, you're too young for dementia care Sougo," he muttered to himself with sharper words than usual and slapped away his hand.

"Well, I guess I'll go get help since it'd be awkward if, well, I tried to carry her back…" Okita thought aloud and creakily got to his feet. He paused, looking back at the pale girl. In the light, her beauty was more than obvious even with her wounds. As Okita fidgeted indecisively on the shore, a yell was heard from above.

"It's Sougo! He's alive Kondo-san!"

"Wait, is that a girl down there? Isn't she naked? What's she doing with his majesty?!"

"Everyone, the king's alive! He's alive!"

"What?! How?!"

At once, swarms of people were around them, probing and yelling with questions until he was physically separated from the girl.

"Wait, the-"

"Your majesty how are you still alive?!"

"She-"

"Did you see my husband?! Oh tell me he's alive your majesty!"

"The gi-"

"Oh your majesty, my son was on your ship!"

"B-"

"Your majesty, you must be redressed at once!"

"Wai-"

"Your majesty!"

"Your majesty!"

"Your…"

The sounds melded into one and swirled away as he collapsed.

* * *

A sharp rap on his door. Okita blinked awake in his chamber. Another sharp rap and then the door opened without him even allowing permission. _Rude, how rude._

His eyes widened when he saw who it was. The girl who he had saved closed the door carefully behind her. She made an awkward curtsy and then their eyes met. The room became silent, for neither breathed, almost as though their voices were taken by Ursula. Fire clashed with Ice, a burning iceberg or a freezing wildfire. The chemistry of something ethereal and impossible. Finally, the girl gulped. Okita instantly turned away, his face burning. _Get yourself together, Okita Sougo does not blush, he does not blush, he does not-_

"Your majesty, uhm, right, thank you for allowing me to stay he-"

"Who allowed you to stay here."

She flinched. "Your majesty, did you not say yourself 'let the girl stay in the castle'?"

 _Too dangerous, she is utterly, completely, too dangerous to be around here._ "I have absolutely no recollection of ever saying that."

"Oi Sougo, stop being so rude."

Hijikata strode in, not even bothering to knock. _Is this just how it's going to go down now?_ But then the crimson eyes fell into shock as Hijikata casually placed his hands on the girl's shoulders.

"You did say that, I clearly heard you. Maybe it was in your subconscious or you didn't really know what you were saying but-"

"Well then, she should still leave. I wasn't in the right mind," he interrupted abruptly.

"Oi Sougo, you're being irrational here…"

"I am _not_ -"

"Stop being so stubborn and uncooperative, it's unbecoming of the king that you've always wanted to be. Mitsuba would be saddened if-"

"Impressive, you have the nerve to even say her name." Sougo replied bitingly. Hijikata's retort choked in his throat and died. "Why did Mitsuba-nee even bother with you. She should never have fallen for such a half-hearted bastard. You couldn't even do anything for her but hurt her to hide your own cowardice, your own lack of self-confidence." Sougo viled the words even as they were spoken. But something compelled him, a bitterness and something even more loathsome...

Hijikata took a sharp, ragged breath. The image of Mitsuba laughing as she watched the butterfly… _Mitsuba_ … The images whirled faster and faster, tantalizingly, tauntingly more real by the moment. Grief, hatred, sorrow, and regret came crashing down as the sealed away memories unfurled slightly. But only his eyes were windows to the screaming gales.

After a charged and tense silence, Hijikata finally turned around. The girl looked up at him, confused at the emotions and yet saw that they were there. Her azure eyes flickered with understanding. She closed her eyes.

"Aren't you the one to whom those words should be directed to?" The soft whisper was like an arrow shot in Okita's heart. Because it was true. And it wasn't even from Hijikata. It was from a complete, utter stranger.


	3. Chapter 3

Okita sighed.

"Your majesty, whatever has been bothering you? All you have been doing since yesterday was to sigh-"

"Oh just shut up Zaki, I don't need a butler telling me what to do."

"Well… Well then!" he indignantly huffed and left the chamber to go play badminton or something.

Okita turned back towards the window and rested his face on the window sill. Outside, the ocean sparkled its seven colors and the seagulls bobbed on the rolling waves. The sand was pale grains of gold and the tropical fauna was all the hues of emerald, flowing in the wind. But this was nothing to the king as he watched, eagle-eyed, the couple walking along the beach below.

Hijikata gently walked with the girl (he had secretly heard it to be Kagura)'s hand on his arm. He said something and she grinned, rather impishly.

"Stupid, you're not supposed to smile like that in a royal court, do you know how many people would take advantage of you, baaaaka, baaaaka," Okita mumbled under his breath. But he sighed once more, shook his head once more, turned away once more. "What does this matter to me? Nope, nothing at all. Not. A. Thing. So, why should I-"

A sudden shriek of laughter instantly found him glued to the window again. He inwardly sighed at himself again. It was just a seagull out at sea-

 _Wait. That's no seagull. What…_ He squinted at the giant, white… Thing. Kinda floating in the water. Something that looked vaguely between a duck and maybe a lump of milk curd.

It held up a flipboard. "SOS" it said. Okita further squinted at the sign, reading the small print beneath it. "Sincerely, the Sea-witch".

 _Now what the hell is that supposed to mean_. _Save our ship, sincerely the sea-witch? What sea-witch? What ship? Sea-witches wouldn't need ships?_ But before he could further ponder, the duck thing disappeared back underwater.

* * *

It was already twilight when the couple disappeared back into the castle. Okita checked the clock and then grinned. He grabbed his kuzoo and leapt out into the balcony. He checked to see the window diagonal to his, which was Hijikata's guest room. The lights flicked on.

With sadistic delight, Okita held up the kuzo and began to play, obnoxiously loud, 'Under the waves'. He closed his eyes, looking forward to see the spitting angry Hijikata.

"Under the waves, under the waves."

Okita froze and peered over the edge. Kagura stood beneath the balcony, grinning. "That's a famous folk song from my country," she exclaimed.

"Uh, you have a movie song as a folk song?"

"Sure, why not? I think a famous folk song up here is Olla Gangsta Style right?"

"... you might be missing a couple letters there but… wait, wait, no, that's not a folk so-"

"Well anyway, why are you playing 'Under the waves'?" She looked up, cocking her head to one side.

"To annoy Hijikata," the words slipped out.

Kagura looked at him drily with raised eyebrows, like _Seriously? Are you really going to be such a loser bruh?_ "Wow, noble king aren't you."

He snorted. "Better than a wild thing frolicking outside the palace at night."

"At least I act like how I am."

Kagura inwardly facepalmed. This time Okita looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"So, I'm not sure if you just pwned yourself but anyway, you do realize that you shouldn't be here?"

She blinked as he looked at her pointedly. "What."

"One, you're barefoot. Two, you're outside the castle at night. Three, you're outside the castle at night below my window. Good? What'dya think would happen if someone walked in on us? The rumors would never end, people would think-"

"Sougo?"

The words stuck in his throat. Okita slowly looked up and saw Hijikata (bastard) staring out his window. Hijikata looked down at Kagura and then at Okita, trying to make sense what was happening. His mind came up with just adolescence.

"Ojou-san, what are you doing? It's already late."

Kagura's mouth flapped open and shut. "Ah, er, I just… wanted some fresh wate- air. Yes, some fresh air."

"...Well, try not to be so loud you two. People are tryin' to sleep… Geez, and I'd have thought you two would be the tiredest of us all. 'specially you Sougo…" His sentence cut off as he yawned.

Kagura blinked. "Why him? Shouldn't you be the most tired, Hijikata-san? Since you saved me and all…"

"What? I never said I saved you." He casually lit a cigarette. "All I did was find you two passed out on the beach. And I sure as hell can't carry two people up the castle, y'know."

"Bu- then, how…?! Didn't the ship capsize far from the shore?! How did we get to land?"

"Hey, you tell me. As I said, all I found were two, half-naked people on the shore with a piece of wood." Kagura blushed to her own irritation. "I managed to pull along a gorilla with me though so I guess I should be more tired anyway. Well, on that note, g'night." He shut his window with finality.

Silence settled down between the two until the light went out.

"Sooo, you gonna get that fresh air or what?" He snickered. "Maybe we could sing 'Under the waves' here together while we're at it."

"...Oh shut up sadist," she muttered. _Great, just great, I'm in this guy's debt now, oh this is just-_

"Humph, is that really how you should be talking to your savior?" he teased, beginning to enjoy his sudden leverage. "You do realize that you owe me practically your entire life, right?"

With ease, he jumped off the balcony. Kagura stared at him warily as he dusted himself off. "I thought it was forbidden or some crap for you to be with me."

He waved his hand away. "Nah, not when I'm king. I was just pissed because I was waiting for Hijikata bastard back then. Now I have something else to play with." His cheshire smile maliciously widened. Kagura knew at that moment that she was going to be in for a long and bumpy ride.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello! I'm really sorry it's been awhile since I've updated (cursed be writer's block…). To be honest, I think I still have some of that still with me but I'll try my best to update more regularly! Also, I've changed the rating since I changed my mind about the plot. Rated as it is now for cursing/ language. Thank you so much for reading!

~meowmeow814

* * *

"...Where are we…"

"Hush hush little brat, you're like that kid on a car that always asks how many more hours it'll take until they reach the beach."

"I am going to hurt you-!"

He waved away her curses of hoping he would become bald as he brushed away the tangled undergrowth. They reached the shoreline.

Kagura's jaw dropped, the breath punched out of her, and she was left breathless. Stars blazed across the sky, pinprick reflections wavering below in the sighing waves. Everything before them was either a light or a shadow, starker than day and night. A briny breeze roughly tousled her now maroon colored hair, whipping it, fraying it, and for half of a half of a half of half of a second, Okita maybe, slightly, kinda, felt jealous of it. And he automatically threw himself a good ol' punch in the face for it.

She stared at him as if he was insane before remembering that he already was. "... So, err, what were we gonna do?"

He blinked away the stars and pulled himself together. He pointed to a small pile of boulders a couple feet away. Curious, Kagura peered over before she shrieked and was jerked down to the other side.

"Okita-samaaaaa! You've come for me, oh I'm so, _so_ , happy right now, I wuv you! Kyaaa!"

"Oh my- just- EWWW STOP I'M N-"

Then dead silence dropped like a bomb.

Okita froze. All sorts of strange, yuri possibilities suddenly seemed quite real.

 _What if… what if… oh my god what if-_

"Oiii…" A growl reverberated in his ear. "What is this, this, this _this_ doing here." She was dragging behind her a naked girl. Her flashing azure eyes narrowed dangerously. "If you're gathering girls and thinking of using me for some kind of o-"

"What the hell? Who was the one who was naked out at sea first place?! As if I would." _Well, maybe in some, perhaps, but no, really-_

"Well I dunno, can't really trust you. I mean, who was the masochist punching himself earlier, huh?"  
"I'm a _Sadist_ , I'd never go so low to be a...a… a _M_ …!"

"Freakish one-man SM show!"  
"Skinny dipper stripper!"

"Masochistmasochistmasochist, bwahaha!"

"Snotty loser, the only way you'd get laid is if you sat under a rooster but that wouldn't be an issue since you're just that flat."  
"Oh you did not just- Bring it on!"

"Fight me- Ugf!"

Okita staggered back, practically choking on sweeping black hair, before he fell right on his butt.

The girl smiled up at him, and he could almost see the classic shoujo sparklies beaming out. "Okita-saan, you shouldn't do those things, darling." She giggled and the cool hand caressed his cheek. _Darling? Who? Raku? This Nisekoi or something?_

Kagura looked at him in utter disgust as he mumbled something, somewhat lost for words for once. Well, that's quite understandable as there was a naked girl obliviously sitting in his lap. Kagura rolled her eyes, which isn't totally the right reaction, but that's just her.

She also completely missed the snicker the black-haired sea-witch threw her. _Oh, it's been a good century since a nice romcom. And what's a romcom without a love triangle?_


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello! I think I've finally figured out how to get myself out of this writer's block (yay!) so here is the next chapter! It's a bit short, but I'll try to write the next one after this asap. Also, sorry in advance if there are a lot of errors, I'm at an airport right now, haha…

Thank you for reading this!

~meowmeow814

* * *

 _She really pissed her off…_

In just that afternoon, Soyo had leapt into Okita's arms a whopping five times, giggled in front of him at least seven times, hugged him at least twice both of those combined, and breathed in space for at least sixty times everything combined. It was a real-life application math problem.

"Well, at least she has some clothes on… now," Kagura muttered as she punched in another hole into the wall. "I need to calm down, this is all that Sadist's fault anyway… just two more days and I'll be done and I can go back to sukonbu and the sea."

"Eeeh?! But you should enjoy living on land!"

Kagura turned around. The sea-witch was smiling by her door.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you here?"

"Well I was just wondering, do you want to go to the festival tonight? Okita-sama and I will be leaving right now!"

"What festival," she grumbled.

"The one by the seashore today! They're holding one since Okita-sama's coronation celebration was caught up in the storm." Soyo blinked innocently. "My my Kagura chan, why ever are you so bad tempered today?"

"I don't know!" Kagura snapped. "Just leave me alone, will you?!" Finally her irritation exploded and Kagura snarled at the sea witch. "Why do you always have to get into other people's business?! Stop acting like we're such good friends! I don't even know you! Stay out!"

Soyo flinched and averted her gaze. She consciously wrapped her arms around herself. "I, I'm sorry," she murmured and quietly exited.

Kagura glared after her before she finally calmed down. And then the guilt came crashing down.

No, why did I say that... Why do I always talk before thinking? She wasn't even trying to be mean but I just...

~o~

"Oi watch where you're going."

Okita grumpily picked up his demon mask, the bright red devilish grin staring up from the gritty ground. But even he couldn't stay annoyed when there was a festival, and he snuggly fit the mask back on. He strode away, not bothering to see who had bumped into him.

 _Shit shit shit…_

The snow-white fox mask shook. _That was awfully close, glad I grabbed a mask…_

Kagura breathed out a sigh. "Damn, that scared me," she muttered, her thumping heart slowly calming down."But the sea witch must be somewhere nearby then..." Kagura shuffled forward, silently cursing as she stubbed her foot on every rock, and more and more sand kept sliding inside her sandals.

The air was thick with mouth-watering, savoring scents of sticky sweet cotton candy, saucy spicy okonomiyaki, and everything in between. It had been ages since she had last gone to a festival. The ocean shone and the festival lanterns twinkled and shimmered in the surface and Kagura felt a pang of homesickness. _It's just like the how the bottom of the ocean is like, with all the glowing jellyfishes and corals._

Kagura stepped out into the open shore as the row of festivities ended. A couple men were setting up some fireworks, placing giant shells next to a couple matches. Kagura sighed and was about to turn back when she spotted a lone figure sitting at the edge of the shore. Kagura took off her mask.

"Sea witch..."

Soyo looked up. She was hugging her knees, and her own sandals were thrown to the side. She tried smiling, but it came out as a pained expression.

"Hello... Kagura-sama." She turned back to the waves, staring into the horizon where the waves became indscernible. "Why are you here?" she asked coolly.

Kagura took a deep breath. "Sea witch, I... I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

Soyo didn't reply and continued watching the sea. The crescent moon itched higher up in the sky before she finally said, "Are you actually? Or do you just want to get rid of your guilt."

Kagura opened her mouth defensively before she remembered how this entire situation had started in the first place. My fat mouth. So she closed her mouth and took a moment to think.

"I... I think that I do want to be forgiven," she admitted slowly. "And I do feel a lot of guilt. But... I think that I really do feel bad. For hurting you. With what I said. I... " Kagura turned away. "I don't ever want to commit myself into close relations. I'm always… scared that I would care only half-heartedly about someone, that I wouldn't… l-love them as much as they did. So I push people away. I'm sorry I did the same to you." Kagura blushed, her cheeks becoming rosy.

Soyo nodded. She sighed and brushed away strands of her hair. "Kagura-sama, I accept your apology. And also, I must apologize. I'm terribly sorry for pushing you around and overstepping my boundaries. And... I'm sorry for being selfish. See, no one has talked to me for so long and you were the first one in… decades. Centuries. And I… I wanted to see you happy. But I guess that desire disrespected your wishes. For that, I am sorry."

Kagura blinked. "Well, thank you but… I don't understand what you mean? What happiness?"

Soyo stared, her jaw slowly dropping. "You mean... You don't know yet?"

"What? Know what?"

Soyo groaned internally and slapped her forehead. _So she's completely oblivious… even though she became jealous. Oh god, I'm so sorry Okita-sama._


End file.
